Cue the flood of tributes to his past and speculation about his future, none of which will help LA prepare for its rematch with the improved Houston Dynamo. The desire to send Beckham out a champion might even ratchet up the pressure in the Galaxy locker room.

Meanwhile, captain Landon Donovan continues to tease with hints he’ll leave the club, or even the sport. Just six days prior to the final, Donovan told The Los Angeles Times that he will “take as much time as I need and decide if and when I'm ready to come back. ... If it takes two weeks and I'm ready to go again or two months or a year or two years. Or never. I don't know."